"Well done for the vintage. With a
very good mouthfeel, lots of velvety tannins
and a long finish. Balanced." Rated 90
Wine
Spectator
This 2006 bottling is better than their superb
2005. There are just 6 cases remaining
Pomerol is Bordeaux's DRC. The hallowed
ground - The hard to get appellation that
everyone wants but its miniscule supply
severely limits its availability.
Pomerols are intensely fruited with a
voluptuous texture. Early-maturing, yet
long-lived. Doesn't that describe your
perfect wine? When was the last time you had
one? I'll bet it's been a while.
Have you ever visited Pomerol?
I remember my first visit. I saw the
"Pomerol" sign and then less than thirty
seconds later, I saw another sign: "Pomerol"
with a line drawn through it. I had left
Pomerol. There were a couple of buildings,
but not so much as a café or tabac. One
church. And yet, I was surrounded by some of
the most expensive vines in the world. The
understatement was killing. It stirred such
desire.
Pomerol is a tiny triangle of land to the
northwest of St. Emilion. It is about a
seventh of the size of its neighbor. The
estates here are small with very limited
production - generally 800-3000 cases. A
chateau in the Medoc is likely to produce ten
times that amount.
So, this is where the mathematics come in -
if you don't have the volume, you've got to
make it up on price. Every Pomerolian cranks
up the quality of their wine to the highest
possible level in order to justify the
Everest prices they ask for and yes, get.
There are few slackers in Pomerol.
Uniquely, for Bordeaux, there is no
classification of wines here. No person on
high felt the need or the courage to dub one
wine superior to the others. There are no
First Growths, Second Growths, no Cru
Bourgeois or Bordeaux Superieur. It's "just"
Pomerol, and you don't mess with the mighty.
The winemaking in Pomerol is generally
considered to be the most meticulous in the
land. Chateau Petrus, ($1500 a bottle) of
course, occupies a special place in Pomerol,
but its stratospheric prices give the wine an
almost mythic quality. I know I've had a few
dribbles over the years, certainly more than
enough to make me want more of that Pomerol
lushness.
But, Petrus is not coming to my table anytime
soon so thank goodness for my good friend,
Jean-Luc Thunevin who always manages to point
me in the direction of phenomenal wines. This
time, he really out-did himself by
pouring some Chateau La Commanderie de
Mazeyres into my glass. A very fine Pomerol -
made better by his taking over the
winemaking.
Well, the velvety liquid immediately ignited
my senses, but I was most excited to
discover I could actually afford it.
La Commanderie de Mazeyres has been around
since the 14th century. It was purchased by
Clement Fayat in 2000 and has been
extensively renovated. Fayat asked Jean-Luc
Thunevin, St Emilion's foremost
garagiste and wine expert to be the
Chateau's consultant starting with the 2006
vintage.
The vines are over 40 years old. The cepage
is 55% Merlot and 45% Cabernet Franc. The
harvesting is done by hand with careful
sorting to eliminate any unripe grapes. All
the grapes are de-stemmed before the vat. The
wine is then aged in oak barrels, of which
50-70% are new.
But what makes a Pomerol different from the
rest?
Pomerols are sexier and lusher. They wear
their Merlot fruit proudly and seem to have a
presence about them that is on the one hand
excruciatingly controlled, stylish, and
French and on the other hand, feral,
secretive, and, exciting.
Make no mistake about it, Pomerols are not
just rare, they are truly great Bordeaux.
Cynthia Hurley
